Ted Wiprud, NY Philharmonic Arts Education Advanceman Blog #5: a reflection on children around the world

To read Ted the previous installments of Ted's arts education travelogue click here for the first entry; here for the second; here for the third; and here for the fourth. For those of you who were looking for this next installment, my apologies for posting it late. I got behind a bit....

This is another wonderful entry from Ted, in what has become his arts education travelogue on tour overseas. Kids will be kids, wherever they may be. RK

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10.13.09

Are kids more alike or more different among widely different cultures? How much does the culture within which children grow up determine their learning style?

Based on several years experience with music education projects in Japan, China, Korea, and of course in the United States (both New York City and Vail, Colorado) I could easily argue either "more alike" or "more different."

Music composed by ten- to twelve-year olds through the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program suggests remarkable similarity among kids in New York, Vail, China, and Japan. In a relatively short period of time, they accept the freedom thrust upon them and become engaged in developing sounds invented out of their imaginations. This is a potentially profound finding. At the same time, and nearly as striking, is the regional sound one can detect in the compositions. Thanks to the transparency of our process - Teaching Artists acting as mentor/scribes are scrupulous about not making or urging any compositional choices - one can readily hear the difference between, for instance, largely homophonic Chinese pieces and harmonically-based American pieces. Recently completed Japanese pieces are more subtle in their accent as they cover such a wide variety of styles and individual voices, yet it is there.

Also suggesting similarity is the reaction of groups of students to interactive concerts given by the Teaching Artists Ensemble of the New York Philharmonic in New York, Japan, and Korea. Younger kids all raise their hands having little to say; older kids may have lots to say, but never raise their hands. The same everywhere, and the same age-appropriate signs of engagement.

Arguing for greater difference among students in different cultures is the individual child's sense of ownership in a piece of music he or she has composed. Child composers in the United States can tend toward the ham state; in Japan, peer pressure against standing out makes some students intensely shy and can even lead them to deny having composed their pieces. Chinese student composers seemed to strike a gracious middle ground of pride in their works as contributions to a complete concert.

We have also been struck by the ability of Japanese students to remain silent in the face of a direct question or suggestion. For them it is better to be silent than to be wrong. American children rarely display such determined self-restraint!

On the other hand, the respect shown to teachers and all adults that we expect to see in Asian classes turns out to vary at least as much by the school as it does by the nation. In this area, the culture of the school seems to count for more than the broader culture.

I remain with considered "maybes" and "it depends" to the question of kids' difference or similarity. Cross-cultural work raises so many issues it can be difficult to determine even which ones are real. Again and again, I find it is the adults - the educators, musicians, and administrators - who predict issues that seem to evaporate on contact, who interpret results so differently from us (Is a smile not a smile? Is a melody not a melody?), who insist on the impossibility of methods that prove to work pretty much the same everywhere. Perhaps what we are seeing is that cultural differences work their magic over time: that elementary- and middle-school-age children are more open to different ways of thinking and learning than their older compatriots. And very likely we are also gathering evidence of how little we understand about that smile and that melody, both we of the Philharmonic and the adults with whom we work.

Theodore Wiprud
Director of Education, New York Philharmonic
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Theodore Wiprud has directed the Education Department of the New York Philharmonic since October 2004. The Philharmonic's education programs include the historic Young People's Concerts, the new Very Young People's Concerts, one of the largest in-school program of any US orchestra, adult education programs, and many special projects.

Mr. Wiprud has also created innovative programs as director of education and community engagement at the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra; served as associate director of The Commission Project, and assisted the Orchestra of St. Luke's on its education programs. He has worked as a teaching artist and resident composer in a number of New York City schools. From 1990 to 1997, Mr. Wiprud directed national grantmaking programs at Meet The Composer. During the 1980's, he taught and directed the music department at Walnut Hill School, a pre-professional arts boarding school near Boston.

Mr. Wiprud is also known as a composer and an innovative concert producer, until recently programming a variety of chamber series for the Brooklyn Philharmonic. His own music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and voice is published by Allemar Music.

Mr. Wiprud earned his A.B. in Biochemistry at Harvard, and his M.Mus. in Theory and Composition at Boston University, and studied at Cambridge University as a Visiting Scholar.

September 2008